Thoughts from the interface of science, religion, law and culture

After spending several years touring the country as a stand up comedian, Ed Brayton tired of explaining his jokes to small groups of dazed illiterates and turned to writing as the most common outlet for the voices in his head. He has appeared on the Rachel Maddow Show and the Thom Hartmann Show, and is almost certain that he is the only person ever to make fun of Chuck Norris on C-SPAN.

Religion & Politics

Science blogs

EVENTS

Not only did a Chicago police detective travel to Gitmo to help torture detainees there, but my former AINN colleague Spencer Ackerman reported on Tuesday that the Chicago PD maintains its own black site where they torture criminal suspects during interrogations.[Read more…]

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When it was announced that the Obama administration was going to name a special envoy for LGBT rights, I knew that we would be treated to some serious outrage from the anti-gay bigots. Peter LaBarbera of Americans for Truth About Homosexuality does not disappoint in this sputtering rant:[Read more…]

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No, not that Savage, the other one. Michael Savage, the far-right fringe talk radio show host. With nothing but pure ignorance and bigotry, he actually believes that people just wake up one day and decide to be trans because it’s seen as “cool.” Because yeah, that’s exactly how it happens.[Read more…]

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Seeing all of the unbelievably dishonest arguments being made against net neutrality, I have to wonder if the people making them really are this clueless or if they’re just shameless liars. Sandy Rios of the American Family Association provides a perfect example:[Read more…]

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From the same people who brought you laws to ban the non-existent threat of Sharia law being enforced in the United States, we now have a bill by a Tennessee legislator that would ban “no-go zones” in that state. Because Tennessee is just teeming with reactionary Muslims beheading Christians, dontchaknow.[Read more…]

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Mario Diaz, the legal counsel for the Christian right group Concerned Women for America, was on the radio show of Tamara Scott, a Republican National Committee member, and said that if the Supreme Court strikes down state bans on same-sex marriage, that will mean the criminalization of Christianity.[Read more…]

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David Barton is such a brazen liar that one has to wonder if he ever tells the truth about anything. If he said the sky is blue, one would be justified in doubting him given his track record. Here’s yet another distortion, this time about Supreme Court Justice Steven Breyer:[Read more…]

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What the hell is it with Idaho Republicans? First we have the guy who thinks swallowed pills go to the vagina, now we’ve got another Republican state legislator literally endorsing the right of parents to murder their kids. This was said in opposition to a bill that would require parents to provide medical care to their children rather than faith healing when their life is threatened:[Read more…]

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For several years, as the Obama administration kept kicking the Keystone pipeline can down the road, I said over and over again that there’s no way in hell he doesn’t approve the pipeline. I was sure he was just waiting until after the election to do it. Turns out I was absolutely wrong:[Read more…]

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That Idaho congressman who thinks that swallowed pills travel to the vagina may not be the dumbest state legislator this week. A state legislator in Nevada said on a radio show that she thinks cancer is a fungus and can be cured by saline and baking soda IVs.[Read more…]

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Warren Throckmorton, who really has become a very important critic of David Barton, notes that Barton is now lying about his previous lies having been shown to be true after all by two lawsuits. I’ve written before about the lawsuit that was settled over the claim that he is “known” for speaking at white supremacist rallies. The second was against a guy who said Barton is an “admitted liar.” Here’s what he has claimed about those two cases:[Read more…]

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This quote from Gov. Scott Walker is a textbook example of using religion to position yourself politically:

“I’m still trying to decipher if this is God’s calling. You’ve got to be crazy to want to be president of the United States. You’ve got to be crazy. To look at what it does to a person and a family, you’ve got to be crazy. But you should only do it if you feel that God’s called you to get in there and make a difference.”

With that single statement he has told voters three things.

1. That being president is such a terrible thing that if he does decide to run, it can only be because he’s a selfless, dedicated public servant who is willing to sacrifice himself for the greater good.

2. That if he decides to run for president, that proves that God is on his side.

3. That he’s completely full of shit and will pander to the rubes as much as he possibly can.

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My former AINN colleague Spencer Ackerman was on the Rachel Maddow Show with a remarkable report on how a Chicago police officer named Richard Zuley was sent to Gitmo to interrogate a detainee, using torture that was directly approved by the White House. And apparently he engaged in much the same conduct while interrogating suspects in Chicago as well.[Read more…]

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A whole bunch of reporters and cameramen for CBS who were in Buenos Aires, Argentina when Bill O’Reilly says he bravely dragged a cameraman to safety after he was injured, which he described as covering the Falkland Islands war, have come forward to say that his version of those events is completely inaccurate.[Read more…]

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As the Supreme Court prepares to hear oral argument and rule on state bans on same-sex marriage, Brian Brown of the National Organization for Marriage seems to be concerned that the cushy job he has at his money-bleeding organization may be at risk.[Read more…]